Homemade Vegan Caesar Cocktail

February 20, 2012Angela (Oh She Glows)

by Angela (Oh She Glows) on February 20, 2012

Have you ever had a Caesar or Bloody Mary cocktail before?

Caesar’s were my absolute favourite drink growing up- the virgin, non-alcoholic kind, mind you! It was a rare occasion when my family wouldn’t have a few supersized bottles of Mott’s Clamato in our pantry. If our stock ran out, my sister and I would often fight over who got the last glass. Or, we’d drink so much that my dad would go to make himself a glass and there would be none left for him.

“Did someone drink the rest of the Clamato juice…??”

Uh oh.

“Kristi did it!!!”

We’d pour a huge, celery-salt rimmed glass of Clamato juice, add in some Worcestershire sauce, ice, a few drops of Tabasco, and a stalk of celery. Nothing was better.

Admittedly, I always thought a Bloody Mary was simply a virgin Caesar with vodka added to it; however, I recently discovered that Caesar’s and Bloody Mary’s are two different drinks.

A Bloody Mary is a cocktail that uses tomato juice as the base and includes other ingredients such as vodka, celery salt, Worcestershire sauce, horseradish, olive, cayenne pepper/Tabasco sauce, lemon juice, and occasionally even bouillon. Sometimes instead of celery it’s garnished with pickled asparagus or other vegetables. The origin of the drink is unclear and there is dispute over who created it, although many speculate the drink came from the US (1).

A Caesar cocktail, on the other hand, is made up with a base of clam and tomato juice (think Clamato juice), containing similar ingredients like Tabasco sauce, Worcestershire sauce, vodka, celery, and a celery-salt rimmed glass. It’s said to originate from Calgary, Alberta in 1969 (2). Walter Chell created the drink for the opening of his new restaurant in Calgary (3).

As you can see, the two drinks are strikingly similar, save for a different base, a few seasonings, and traditional garnishes.

When people ask me what foods were the most difficult to give up when I went vegan, many are surprised when I say “Clamato Juice”. But it’s true! I used to drink this stuff like water and it only occurred to me recently that I should try making my own vegan-friendly version at home.

My mission started rather abruptly, with a V8 explosion. I opened this bottle a couple months ago, forgot it in the back of the fridge, and was rewarded with this little mess when I opened it. Needless to say, I did not use this sour V8 in my cocktail! The smell of it would make your nose hairs curl. It was just awful.

I suggest you do the same. You may prefer more or less of the seasonings I used. When it tastes good to you, it’s done!

After tasting and testing and adjusting the seasonings (feel free to pretend you’re a crazy cool Mixologist), it wasn’t long before I decided that my drink was perfect. I also added a pinch of kelp granules to give it a hint of the sea, without the clams.

The mix turned out so similar to my childhood favourite I’m not sure I could pick out the original in a blind taste test. I guess the real test will be making this for my dad when he comes to visit. I predict he will like this version better, but I may be biased. ;)

5 from 2 reviews

Homemade Vegan Caesar Cocktail

Vegan, no bake/raw, oil-free

By Angela Liddon

Is this a vegan version of a Caesar cocktail or is it an adapted version of the Bloody Mary? I can’t decide. Whatever you call it, this is one fantastic drink with a whopping 4 servings of vegetables per 500 ml glass. Be sure to add the seasonings to taste and you can’t go wrong.
Adapted from Former Chef.

YieldTwo 500ml servings

Prep time5 Minutes

Cook time0 Minutes

Total time5 Minutes

Ingredients:

4 cups (32 oz) vegetable juice

1 tbsp Dijon mustard

1-1.5 tbsp vegan Worcestershire sauce (I use The Wizard’s brand)

2-2.5 tsp hot sauce, or to taste

4 tbsp fresh lemon juice

3 tbsp fresh lime juice

3/4 tsp celery seed

Sprinkle of Herbamare or kosher salt, to taste

Freshly ground black pepper, to taste

Vodka, to taste (optional)

Kelp granules, to taste (optional)

To garnish: celery salt, lime, celery stalks, ice

Directions:

In a large bowl or pitcher, add the vegetable juice. Now whisk in the rest of the ingredients all to taste.

Grab two 500-ml glasses and rim the edge with a lime wedge. Now dip glass rim into a shallow bowl of celery salt. Pour drink into glasses and garnish with a lime wedge, celery stalk, and ice. Serve immediately.

Nutrition Information

Recipient's email* (Seperate Email Addresses with comma)

Your Name*

Please fill in the code below*

I didn’t have any celery salt on hand, so I used kosher salt. I wouldn’t really recommend it though, it was more for the photo than anything!

After a tough workout yesterday, this was the best, thirst-quenching drink to happen to my taste buds in a long time!

With 4 servings of vegetables per glass, it was also a great way to sneak veggies into my day with minimal effort.

Thank you, thank you, thank you!!! I used to love a Caesar, but haven’t had anything even close to it since becoming vegan. This is delicious and just that flavour I was looking for! :-) My Labour Day weekend is now complete

You missed the point of this article. Nothing about it advocated alcoholism. Its an alternative recipe to a traditional Caesar. It can be used for a variety of dishes besides mixing alcoholic drinks. Everything in moderation is fine. Anyways, I am not Vegan but Vegetarian. I used to drink this stuff like water as a kid since my mom and dad kept plenty in the fridge. So glad I stumbled upon this, its delicious and better than the regular! I like mine spicy so I added biona organic hot sauce.

Thanks so much! i have an addiction to Bloody Caesar (every Friday night had to have it), but since I decided to be a vegan, I was really sad I couldn’t drink my favorite drink…You saved my Friday nights! can’t wait to try it! too bad I hadn’t seen your recipe before today!

Definetly gonna try with the dijon! Have bean all the way around to find a nice vegan bloody caesar recipe but always find it too much bloody mary-ish. I also like to add pickle juice and he Extreme Beans (pickle beans with garlic)! I will definitely try with the okra!